Meryl Streep mentioning Mixed Martial Arts during the Golden Globes is exactly what many powerbrokers in MMA want.
The actress used her time on stage well at Sunday night’s award ceremony in Los Angeles to celebrate the diversity and integration that has driven Hollywood and movie production for well over a century.
Streep also aimed a few shots across the bow of US President-Elect Donald Trump and what she deemed to be his divisive and exclusionist rhetoric. In the process, she commented:
“Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick them all out you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”
While the reaction to that comment was a mix of frivolity, bemusement and anger, it definitely piqued the interest of UFC president Dana White. Much like when Floyd Mayweather challenges Conor McGregor, the UFC is more than content to fan the flames to keep the story in the mainstream media.
It was no surprise, then, last night to see Dana White taking to Twitter to big up football and MMA:
Fiiiiiiiight weeeeeeeek!!!! Rodriguez vs Penn this SUNDAY live and FREE on @FS1 after the football game! Cc: Meryl Streep 😜 pic.twitter.com/QIdDQYhbhZ
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 9, 2017
The UFC’s official Facebook account went for the high ground and it paid off with a nice show of the diversity it embraces within its roster.
As the post below points out, five countries are represented at present by current UFC title-holders [USA 5, Brazil 2, Ireland 1, England 1, Poland 1]. At the head of the picture is as proud an Irishman as you’d ever be likely to find – Conor McGregor.
https://www.facebook.com/UFCUnitedKingdom/photos/a.233491526686805.52989.151624928206799/1220009481368333/?type=3
One suspects Streep’s comments were not a direct assault on MMA but for those that are keen to wring as much publicity from the speech, expect this to sluice on for another couple of days yet.
